FOCUS ON: Haiti Earthquake

Struck last month by its most powerful earthquake in 200 years, the people of Haiti are struggling to come to terms with the destruction caused. An immediate after-effect of the quake was the impairment of all forms of telephone, Internet and earth stations for satellite communication. Most of the infrastructure that had been established and developed by the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) in 2009 was annihilated leaving a wrecked and grieving country, in desperate need of assistance, isolated from the rest of the world.

In the days following the earthquake, Internet connectivity and general ICT support was provided to the humanitarian community by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) at the logistics base near the Port au Prince airport.

IT specialists from Dubai arrived in Haiti less than 48 hours after the earthquake to begin re-establishing telecommunications. The initial IT emergency response was funded by the partnership between Vodafone Foundation, United Nations Foundation and World Food Programme.

The ETC, with the assistance of partners, NGOs and UN agencies, has now established an Inter-Agency cybercafé which provides e-mail access to the entire humanitarian community facilitating aid operations. Over 40 organisations are actively using the services provided by ETC which equates to approximately 1,000 individual users.

Shipments containing essential IT equipment, such as handheld VHF radios, satellite phones, VSAT stations, laptops and generators, have been sent to Port au Prince from numerous destinations including Panama City, Dubai and Rome. Backstop operations are being established in neighbouring Dominican Republic to support Haiti operations.

It has been a turbulent fortnight for those involved in the emergency response operations. Emotions of anxiety, sadness, stress and exhaustion are running rife; however, amidst the confusion and tension, a current of positivism can be felt. It has been reported time and time again from the field that the attitude amongst the team is outstanding. Regardless of which agency, NGO, or partner the individuals come from, everyone is working as a unified team to help the people of Haiti recover from this disaster. Their efforts, their passion, their enthusiasm and their motivation are truly admirable.

“Coming together is a beginning; Keeping together is progress;
Working together is success.” Henry Ford

For more information on the Haiti mission, visit: http://ictemergency.wfp.org

MEET: Stig Lindström

“I want to do something that actually makes a difference. I want to help people.”

Swedish National, Stig Lindström is Director of Operations for Ericsson Response, a global initiative of Ericsson aimed at developing a better and faster response to human suffering caused by disaster.

Having been with Ericsson Response for nearly a decade, as well as with the United Nations for 12 years, Stig has extensive experience in emergencies and humanitarian operations.

Stig is currently coordinating five staff members who have been deployed to assist in the Haiti earthquake emergency. 

“The destruction caused by this earthquake is catastrophic and the damage to the country’s infrastructure is crippling,” said Stig. “Through Ericsson Response we can provide volunteers and equipment to assist the people of Haiti in their time of need.”

Seven out of the 15 IT experts responding to the Haiti emergency have completed the IT Emergency Management Training. Have you?
Next session scheduled for
10 - 21 May, 2010.
Click here for more information.

NEWS: Ericsson Response - Don’t worry! We’ll connect you!

From 82,500 employees, in 145 countries, Ericsson selected five of their best and most skilled network specialists to deploy to Haiti to assist in relief operations after this month’s earthquake. The five individuals are all volunteers for Ericsson’s corporate responsibility initiative, Ericsson Response. Developed in 2000, Ericsson Response focuses on disaster relief with the belief that providing aid workers with telecommunications tools enables them to get their work done faster.

Director of Operations, Stig Lindström, says the strength of Ericsson Response is their knowledge. “In large-scale humanitarian emergencies, such as Haiti, we can apply our expertise in GSM and radio access networks to help aid workers provide quicker relief.”

The Ericsson Response team was amongst the first to arrive in Haiti and are now providing their services and capabilities, free of charge, to the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Lars Peder Svensson from Sweden and Marcio Teixeira from Brazil are GSM specialists and are assisting the ETC in the installation and operation of a unique portable GSM network designed for use in emergency situations.

Sarah Gannon from Ireland and Flavio Castellani from Canada will assist the ETC in installing Ericsson’s Wireless LAN In Disaster Emergency Response (WIDER). The LAN will be connected to WFP’s VSAT to provide broader internet access. GSM network and WIDER are being provided by Ericsson Response.

Currently located in Santo Domingo, Henrik Svante from Denmark is taking care of Ericsson Response’s equipment in transit to Haiti. He will soon travel to Port au Prince to assist the team.
Ericsson Response is also providing 1,500 mobile handsets to the ETC to distribute to aid workers. When the Ericsson Response GSM network is functional, with these handsets, aid workers can coordinate the relief operations using mobile communications.

Ericsson Response has provided communications systems for numerous humanitarian crises since its establishment including emergency operations in Afghanistan, Turkey, Vietnam, Congo, Pakistan, Sudan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Visit Ericsson Response for more information.

FIELD STORIES:

•  Getting back to work – the day after

•  Un pour tous, tous pour un

•  William’s update from the field

PHOTO GALLERIES:

•  ICT team in Haiti

•  Philippines – Cabalan repeater site

 VIDEOS:

•  ICT team in Panama

•  Equipment in the Dominican Republic

•  ETC operations in Haiti

TECH TIDBITS

A vehicle was hijacked in Sudan and driven across the border into Chad. Lost forever, right? Wrong! The vehicle was installed with a WFP Vehicle Tracking Device...

In 2010, WFP will roll-out the installation of vehicle tracking devices through a partnership between Global Vehicle Leasing Programme (GVLP) in Dubai and WFP Security Services Division (ODF) in Rome. The devices ensure greater safety and security for WFP personnel and will eventually allow for cost savings and greater fleet management including fuel costs, down time and vehicle repairs.
Each WFP light-vehicle will be fitted with a small, compact and discreet satellite terminal which achieves bi-directional communications via a global satellite network and obtains location information data received from GPS satellites. For enhanced security, information retrieved from the satellite is stored in several separate locations. The vehicle tracking device enables WFP to track, monitor and manage its vehicles effectively and efficiently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the world via a secure web-based application.

The satellite terminal software monitors the status of the vehicle’s ignition at all times and reports when any changes are detected.  The software also monitors distance travelled and idling time. All functions are used by the application to generate appropriate reports, warnings or alerts that may affect the operation of the vehicle.  The application also automatically generates emails and/or SMS messages to nominated individuals when any warnings are received, ensuring that even if users are not logged on, they will still be alerted.

In addition, vehicles will be installed with a “panic” button (for instances of a crash, hijacking, etc.) which sends an urgent alert to the chief operator for the region. The alert can only be reset by an authorized user from within the application ensuring that the driver cannot be coerced into cancelling the action.

As part of the trial phase, devices were installed in vehicles in Haiti, Sudan and Dubai. The system had already been put to the test when a vehicle was hijacked in Sudan and driven across the border into Chad. Through the tracking device, operators were able to track the vehicle for two weeks and, in coordination with police and local law enforcers, retrieve the vehicle.
Members of the Fast IT and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team (FITTEST) will be deployed to country offices, starting Q2 2010, to install the devices.

The images below show vehicle LVT128 in Nyala, Sudan. The image on the left is from the software application. The image on the right shows the use of Google Maps within the application.

For more information on WFP Global Tracking Device and Global Vehicle Leasing Programme, contact: Bill Campbell  bill.campbell@wfp.org  +971 4 368 1383  FoodSat 1349 2492

PERSONAL PROFILE: Rocket Scientist from RedR Joins FITTEST and Launches to Haiti

Australian national, William Twyford, became a member of the Fast IT and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team (FITTEST) this month, bringing with him a wealth of experience, including working on the rectification of bush fire damage to the telecommunications network in the highest mountain range in Australia and even building robots for a Japanese game show.

William was previously a member of RedR Australia, a non-profit organisation that selects and trains individuals to respond to humanitarian crises. RedR Australia maintains a register of qualified and effective personnel who provide emergency assistance to ongoing humanitarian efforts and as such, William has already completed two humanitarian ICT missions.

In 2009, William completed a four month contract in Sudan where he was responsible for the ICT electrical supply for more than 30 offices, including power stability, installing and checking UPSes (uninterruptable power supplies), grounding, lightning and surge protection, etc.

Also in 2009, William was deployed to Haiti for three months for emergency pre-placement for hurricane season. While no tropical storms or hurricanes impacted Haiti in 2009, William kept himself busy auditing all WFP offices and sites for telecommunications shortfalls, repairing storm-damaged infrastructure and designing and installing a new structured cabling system and network for the Country and Sub Offices in Port au Prince. William also prepared repeaters for deployment and scouted potential repeater sites to improve WFP’s coverage in response to Programme and Logistics needs.

Before joining RedR, William was with Silcar Communications, a telecoms contracting company which built networks for tier one carriers. He was with the company for nine and a half years, starting as a graduate engineer and advancing to Operations Manager.

William is an academically qualified Mechanical and Space Engineer which, according to his new colleagues, makes him a rocket scientist.

“I enjoy the challenge of working at different levels,” said William, “from project design and management to climbing masts. I like the broad scope of responsibilities and requirements that missions with FITTEST demand and look forward to the challenges ahead.”
William was deployed to Port au Prince the day after the earthquake as part of the emergency ICT operation.  His vast technical experience, combined with his knowledge of Haiti, makes him an invaluable asset to the team.

For more information on RedR Australia, visit: www.redr.org.au

NEWS: Training in Sudan

The Fast IT and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team (FITTEST) not only supplies technical staff and project managers for humanitarian operations, but also actively trains and develops capacity of local teams to support ICT infrastructure in-country.
Two training courses – Let’s Comm and PABX technical training – were conducted recently in Khartoum, Juba and Nyala in Sudan.

Let’s Comm training is a standard one week course that equips staff with the skills and knowledge to be able to deploy and maintain HF and VHF networks according to WFP and UN standards. The course also familiarises staff with minimum operational security standards, UN Telecommunications standards, UN call signs and WFP radio installation procedures.
The second course, PABX Technical Training, was a three day course which taught participants how to install, configure and troubleshoot a Business Phone PABX (private automatic branch exchange).  
Both training courses were led by Jalal Shah, WFP ICT Officer, with Hatim Mutwakil, ICT Assistant, assisting on the PABX Training. A total of 21 in-country staff were trained over a period of three weeks.

Click here for more information on ICT training courses.

PROJECT UPDATE: The start of our EPIC quest...

Emergency responders forging their way through the heart of destruction and despair have one basic need - knowledge. If they are to extend the desperately needed assistance to those most disadvantaged, traumatised or lacking even the basic essentials, they must know the latest information relating to supplies, security, logistics, operations, environment and humanitarian needs.
After consulting with colleagues in the field, a team of ambitious IT innovators were inspired by this and embarked on a quest to develop an integrated platform that could be used to obtain valuable operational information from a variety of sources. With this platform, emergency responses could be more efficient and more effective. Thus, EPIC was conceived.

EPIC, standing-for Emergency Preparedness Integration Centre, will be an integrated decision making tool for emergency operational management. It will coordinate the efforts of organisations within the humanitarian community to create a single platform to support preparedness and response through faster decision-making and improved coordination.

A period of three years has been scheduled to develop the project and put it into operation. Now, nearing the end of the first year, the design has been finalised, the fast-deployment hardware connectivity platform has been standardised and information links and exchanges with primary WFP applications have been built. Deployment of the first pilot project, which will focus on geo-connectivity, is scheduled for Q1 2010 with a view to expand into the Occupied Palestinian Territories by the end of Q2.

For further information, questions, feedback please contact ictemergency@wfp.org

Wavelength is received by 500+ IT humanitarian professionals, including the Sub-working Group on Emergency Telecommunications(WGET), private sector partners, cluster members, stand-by partners, NGOs and all participants of the IT Management training in Pisa

Contact details for ICT emergency teams are available here

Previous issues of Wavelength available here